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Chapter 11
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2024-10-29 19:42:56I leave the diner at the end of my shift, walking through cars in the lot and heading for the trees. Dinner is in an hour. Mom and Grandma are making a chicken pot pie—they've been wanting to make one ever since we arrived in Waindale. Apparently, my mom used to crave them as a kid and again when she was pregnant with me. I would always hear about Grandma's pot pie, how I must try it and must fall in love. All the women in our family learn this recipe by heart. I wonder what else the women in our family have in common.
Dinner is in an hour. Instead of making my way home, I'm weaving through trees like a child running away. I grip my school bag as I rush down a dip in the forest. The sun is starting to fall behind the very tips of the pines, and I consider calling this place Pinedale—or Paindale.
My school bag hits the ground
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My mother's persistent knocking sounds against my bedroom door. "Are you dressed? They'll be here any minute!" She calls from the other side.I lay on my bed, dressed on the top but not the bottom. It took me a while to pick the top and put it on and crash into my blankets. Doing the same with pants seems like a lot. Getting up and walking to my closet feels as if it might drain the last bit of my energy. If I tumble to my butt—I may just lay on the floor and stare at the wall for the rest of the night. The blank section of wall displayed by my bed has gotten old."Almost," I manage to yell.I called in sick to work. I wish I could call in sick to dinner. Vivian has been chatting about this dinner all week while I've been contemplating my future and existence. I wanted t
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"I know! I'll be back by dinner!"I quickly pull on my jacket and shrug my backpack up my shoulders. Grandma comes into the front room with an umbrella and hands it to me."Thanks," I smile and take it."Always forgetting. Been here a month and—how many times has it been—caught in the rain maybe ten? Fifteen times?"My brows furrow. "No way. No more than ten.""Alright. Alright. Remember to say goodbye to your mother.""Out on the porch?" I double-check and grandma nods.I find my Mom with a blanket tossed over her shoulders and her laptop on her lap, the screen and its
Waindale Chapter 14
The sidewalk is coated with leaves as the trees that line it grow bare. Vivianne stays a step ahead of me, then two, then three. The thought of seeing him again is distracting my feet—hell, my entire body is in a confused state, not knowing what to do anymore. Whenever I was in trouble, I would fidget with my hands. They were uncontrollable and awkward, no longer attached to my body. That same feeling is returning, but this time the only part of myself that I feel connected to is my head.Vivian glances back at me. "Come on," she says, crossing the street. I catch up and walk alongside her."What are we going to talk about?" I ask. The need to prepare is growing inside of me."Whatever you feel the need to talk about.""Do you k
Waindale Chapter 15
This feels like the longest night in existence. All the lights in the house are out—my mother and grandmother had gone to bed a while ago—and I'm left to lay in the darkness of my bedroom. It's quiet, so painfully quiet. It's gotten too cold for the crickets and now the night is filled with unsettling, infrequent gusts of wind. I'd much rather hear the wet tapping of rain than this silence, but the one night I need noise is the one night of clear skies.Tomorrow is my first day at the Academy. I have my uniform hanging on the back of my desk chair. Contrary to my mother's beliefs, it fits near perfectly, which makes my mind wander to Adam. This situation that I've been thrown into is insane, completely unreal, but I still feel guilty for acting so cold towards him. He is clearly trying to make it work; I just can't get my mind around the idea of it actually working. There's n
Waindale Chapter 16
"Are you ready for your first day at Waindale Academy, dear?" Grandma asks as I enter the kitchen in my spiffy new uniform. I sit down at the table and she places a plate in front of me. "What would you like? Something special for your first day?""I can't eat. I feel sick," I tell her. "If I eat, I may just vomit.""What? What's wrong? Did you catch the flu? Maybe you shouldn't go to school today, Wrenley, not if you're going to be sick.""No, no," I mutter. "I have to go. I just can't eat. The thought of it makes my stomach hurt."Grandma sighs. "Oh, goodness. Will you bring something with you? There are granola bars in the pantry." I nod and she fetches them. I lift my backpack to my lap and stuff them inside, knowing that I'll for
Waindale Chapter 17
"Someone is hungry."Peering up from my dinner plate, I find my mother and grandmother watching me. "Yeah, I am. Sorry.""No, no, it's a good thing," my grandmother assures me. "Why don't you tell us about your first day at your new school?"I nod and set down my fork, but my mom looks to her plate and doesn't lift her gaze again. "Well," I start, a little hurt, "today I was just shown around the school. I got my schedule and met the Dean. It's really nice. There's this courtyard, and the cafeteria food is amazing, and the people all seem—""Thanks for dinner, mom, but I have to get back to reviewing. Leave the dishes, I'll do it later," my mom says flatly and gets up from the table. I watch her disappear into the hallway. Momen
Waindale Chapter 18
I walk into my first class of the day and immediately sit at the back. I fiddle with the buttons on my sweater as I wait for other students to make their way in. My schedule is almost the same to what I was enrolled in at Waindale High School, except for two electives. They've been replaced with nutrition and wellness and the very mysterious lycanthropy. Vivianne explained before class that it's something the humans at the Academy can take. It teaches them about their fellow students, how to cope with the idea, and how to view the world from this new perspective without becoming overwhelmed.I never thought I would be taking a class about werewolves, especially at some private school that's filled with them. I never thought I would be okay with it because it makes the person I am mated to feel better. I never thought I would be giving into all of this.
Waindale Chapter 19
"Oh, Wrenley, you're home. I thought you'd be back later than this. Oh! Also, I found your mother's old yearbook." Grandma grabs the thick book off of the dining table and flips to a page she had marked. She points to a small picture of a guy. "That's him. He's your mother's first love. John Aymon."I glance at the image for a second before hurriedly taking off my shoes and bag and jacket. "Grandma, where's mom? She wasn't on the porch working.""Why, she's gone to the grocery store to pick up a few things." I think for a moment before stepping back into my shoes and tugging my jacket back on. "Where are you going, dear?" Grandma asks."I'm going to go find her.""I'm sure she'll be home soon. Just wait here and I'll make you a snack.
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Sometimes I see him—his face in the darkness of the open closet or the blur of trees as we drive by. I wish I believed myself when I mutter that it's just my head conjuring such things from nothing. I wish my father wasn't capable of things beyond my imagination.It's been a year since I escaped my father and became a shifter. I thought that would be enough time to move on from it all, but I often find myself reliving the many memories I have stored away. Adam will pull me from my trance only to tell me that he's called my name twice already. He'll ask me what's on my mind like he doesn't know, and I'll wave him off as if it were nothing. We used to talk about it during the first few months, but eventually, I saw no use in repeating the same worries and nightmares. There is only so much he can do.Despite my lingering past, we are
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"I never thought this day would end," Vivianne groans.I glance at her as we walk down the hallway—her, Imogen, and I all heading toward the main doors of the academy. "I got so used to doing nothing over winter break that even putting on my uniform took it out of me," Imogen says. "So how about we go to the diner and celebrate our first day back? I'm thinking burgers, fries, milkshakes—""Sorry, I can't," I say. "Adam is waiting for me.""Out front? Right now?" Vivianne asks."Yeah. He should be out there."She frowns. "What about girl time? You pretty much disappeared the entire break and came back suddenly one of us, now—"
Waindale Chapter 55
Once I make it back home and dress behind the house, I come to the front and find him leaving through the front door. "Adam!" I call and hurry towards him. "Where are you going?"He takes a breath. "Good, you're back. Stay inside—my mother is on her way. She'll stay with you here.""But where are you going? Don't tell me you're going with them into the mountains.""No. I'm going to the north border to meet the group when they arrive back. I made some calls and sent Ben to the town hall.""I—okay. When will you be back?" I ask, tired of being apart. It feels like every time we are reunited, something is wedged between us, keeping us from each other. I miss the days when our biggest worry was whether or not my mom would be w
Waindale Chapter 54
If he was cold, I could warm him. Hot, I could cool him. Dead, I could revive him.I wake on the hard stones of the beach, empty and alone. The night gives way to day as the sun begins to break through in shades of orange and pink, yellow, and beyond—the lightest blue. The blood that drained from within me has dried, and I shed my clothes to wash them and myself in the ocean.The godly strength I felt is gone, but the ocean water is not frigid against my skin. Overwhelming hunger has surfaced, but the great understanding I once had has dimmed. I'm one of them now. I can feel the need to shift inside me, but I'm scared of how it will feel; how I may change not only physically, but mentally.My stomach thunders, furious from starvation.
Waindale Chapter 53
Coughs erupt from my throat as I crawl out of the water and up the pebbled beach. My nails dig into the rocks as I heave out one last croak and collapse onto my back. The night has consumed the light of day, but the cover of dark won't hide me from him. He's coming for me, and my baby isn't safe.My chest rises and falls rhythmically as my eyes study the night sky. His voice sounds in my head, toying with me. I manage to climb further up the beach until the waves can't reach me. I don't know how far I am from Waindale, or how close I am to the mountains. The forest stands like I wall, masking the lay of the land.My growing baby eats up a majority of my father's power, but I use the rest to replenish my tired limbs. However, the longer I rest to heal myself, the more my father's looming presence devours me, stealing all forms of rationa
Waindale Chapter 52
In the middle of the library, I lay flat on my back and stare up at the intricate ceiling. Crown molding and other carvings rope along it like white vines and knot together at the center point of the roof. Aimed directly underneath it, I close my eyes and recall what I read in one of the many books I've studied from my father's collection. I couldn't find any information about teleportation or any sort of traveling similar to the mysterious vanishing he does, but I did read about astral projection, and if there's a possibility of seeing Adam again, I'm going to give it a try.I let a wave of relaxation wash over me slowly from my feet, up my legs, over my torso, down my arms and through my neck until lastly, my face relaxes as well. With steady, deep breaths I feel myself sinking into my mind, drowning until it feels like my body is melting into the floor. A sense of isolation takes over
Waindale Chapter 51
I think about the times he's begged me to listen. I think about the moment he held me so tightly and pleaded for me to stay alive—to hide when he says hide; run when he says run. There are things in this world that could rip me apart. There are monsters that hide in the shadows, but little did I know that I would be one of them. Adam couldn't protect me from myself, though. I was constantly preparing for the day my father would take me, yet when the time finally came I felt so blindsided. There was nothing I could do. I promised him time—I didn't know how much—but I told him that we would at least have a little. Time to have my baby. Time to plan a rebuttal. Time to say goodbye.Either I left with him, or he killed Adam.I close my eyes and imagine Adam's arms around me, remembering just how safe I felt in his hold. Re
Waindale Chapter 50
I'll do anything he wants. I'll agree to anything as long as Adam's safety is secured.Ester's voice fades with distance. The only things audible are my heavy breaths and the frantic beating of my own heart in my ears. I hurry through the trees like a blind woman guided by the hand of another, trusting in the abilities that I know will turn on me. Forest surrounds me, and just when I begin to feel trapped in the lush illusion, voices surface. I chase after them. I power through the brush until the jarring presence of my father taints the air. He leaves a trail of pollution everywhere he goes as if his presence on earth defies the laws of nature.The voices morph into words. It's Adam. I'm sure he can sense that I'm near, but I can't risk being caught by him. My father is hunting my mate, and I am hunting my father.
Waindale Chapter 49
I watch Adam and he lays peacefully beside me, the morning sun just beginning to rise and trickle into our bedroom. Abstract shapes of yellow sun are cast over the room, rectangles stretched on the wood floor and the cream walls, and I used to stare at them before getting out of bed. But now that Adam is here with me, I can look at him like I used to. I used to lay here and listen to his steady breaths. It wasn't often that I'd wake up before him, but with my father's power, my sleep schedule has been anything but normal.It's not a new concept to me anyway—to be awake at all the wrong times.Just as I note the pleasant silence, the bedroom door slowly opens. Ester pokes her head through, sees that I'm awake, then proceeds toward me with a tall glass of concentrated vitamins. She likes to juice things for me.
